Wednesday, September 5, 2012

ROME, September 5, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The bishop of the French diocese of the island of Corsica has come out swinging against the plans announced by the government to institute homosexual “marriage”. Olivier de Germay, bishop of the diocese of Ajaccio, wrote on the diocesan website that the plans will result in the “destruction of one of the pillars of our society”.

Bishop de Germay said that the ideologies of the past thirty years, spread largely “underground,” have “led to the breakup of the family,” and will finally result in the “disintegration of the person itself”.

Bishop Oliver de Germay

“In both cases, it is the whole society that disintegrates.” He urged his readers, however, not to lose hope but to “mobilize” and challenge the gender ideologies and proclaim the “Good News.”

“And the Good News that we proclaim, is that it is possible to love in truth. That’s the beauty of sexuality and marriage lived through the Holy Spirit in accordance with God’s plan.”

He warned that it is an error to give in and be silenced in the face of accusations of “homophobia.” It is not a matter of “homophobia” to maintain that homosexual partnerings should not be accepted by the state “as a social model just as a married couple”.

“This ability to disapprove an act while respecting the person is also a legacy of Christianity.”

The bishop put forward a set of “benchmarks” to aid people discussing the issue, saying that the “arguments of common sense are not enough” since the ideology behind the move to create “gay marriage” has infiltrated into every corner of society. Catholics and other concerned people must be able to discuss the issue with “arguments from reason” to win over people who do not share their religious beliefs.

The ideology is following the logic of “gender theory” that holds that sexual difference is strictly biological and does not deeply affect the identity of the person. Under the auspices of this ideology, he said, “everyone can choose their sexual orientation, regardless of gender”.

It prohibits the treating of boys and girls according to traditional male and female roles, which is “considered indoctrination” and a violation of “omnipotent individual freedom”.

The “enduring union” of marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose of having and rearing children, the bishop said, “is not the invention of a particular type of society but is deeply inscribed in human nature”. Moreover, the state has a natural interest in protecting genuine marriage because of the natural protection it creates for children, thus “building society”.

It does not make sense, he said, for the state to grant an equivalent status on a “mode of union” that is “sterile by nature” and a merely private choice that does not directly benefit society.

The ideologues who brought France to the edge of homosexual “marriage” have used duplicitous methods, he said, claiming at the start of the debates on civil unions for homosexuals that it was “simply to defend the dignity of homosexual persons and that under no circumstances envisaged the adoption of children by same people”.

“Today, still under the guise of non-discrimination, the draft law on adoption is announced.” Under this law, he said, prohibiting a child from having a mother and father is not considered discrimination.

“But let there be no mistake, it will not be the last episode. We are under the guidance of an ideological current that does not stop there.”